This is the Body of Christ

       
     I vaguely remember March. Yes as in just 3 months ago, but it feels like a lifetime. I remember even after they announced schools would be closed for the time being I still had hope. Hope that this would maybe just "blow over". Hope that we could possibly get back to school. Hope that we could move our church services into the local public elementary school as we had been scheduled to do the day schools were shut down. Hope that things wouldn't really be as bad as "they" said. However, by April reality had begun to sink in. New York City was shut down and it was becoming clear that life as we had known it was changed and would be changed for a very long time. As cases of the coronavirus began to skyrocket, people were faced with job furloughs or losses, parents were faced with being full time teachers, kids were faced with their whole world turned upside down, Jordan and I were faced head-on with a crisis of our faith. I'll be honest, my initial reaction was to get some things together, hop on a plane, and book it to Oklahoma to ride this thing out. I wanted my kids out of the Bronx, I wanted to be in a place where they could have space to run and play, and I wanted my mom and dad! However, as we prayed about the situation and sought the counsel of some individuals we greatly respect we knew that God just wanted us to stay put. As the month of April dragged on, He was faithful to show us why we should stay and what we should do.
     I continued to do my grocery shopping for our family every week. We just don't have room to stock up and buy a lot of things in bulk. And as I did things rapidly changed - lines were wrapped around buildings, shelves of necessary items were bare, anxiety and stress were thick in the air as people tried to find essential self-care items and could not. It was (and for some things still is) crazy. Toilet paper became a most sought after item and finding it became a multi-day task as I would search from store to store trying to find some for our family. It became harder to find cleaning supplies, impossible to find hand sanitizer, and a mad house to find masks, which we were now required to wear anytime outside of the house. The needs of our community were on the rise and Jordan and I knew we needed to do something. We prayed, brainstormed, and asked God to show us what our part in this should be. God is so faithful and He has been ordering our steps through this very difficult season. As we ran into a neighbor one day and heard his story of trying to find toilet paper, we knew God was leading us to minister to our neighbors through giving supplies.  Thus, our blessing bag ministry was born. Around the middle or so of April we put together our first blessing bag with 2 rolls of toilet paper, 5 pairs of disposable gloves, hand soap, 2 masks, small package of Kleenex, hand sanitizer (if we could find it),  2 bottles of water, and granola bars. We also included a flyer in every bag with information about the church and a gospel tract detailing how someone can come to know Jesus. We started slowly, just by handing out to our neighbors, church members, and people we knew in the community. But we still felt like we needed to do more to reach those in our community we did not know.

     If you are not too familiar with the church planting process, I cannot emphasize enough how important the summer is for us. Our whole family has come to thrive off the summer months. That is when we have mission teams come and join alongside us in laboring to reach our community. We are out in the park or doing family oriented activities somewhere in the neighborhood. We are meeting new people and forming new relationships and it's always such an encouraging few months. Not only do our mission teams focus on making new relationships with our neighbors, but they inevitably leave a lasting impression on our family, especially our kids. Maria LOVES having groups around and always looks forward to making new friends and forming bonds through the love of Jesus. It is always a much needed season of encouragement, excitement, and growth for our church. As groups go out and pick up trash, engage in gospel surveys, organize activities and fun events, and just be a strong presence of Jesus in our neighborhood God always adds to our numbers. He never fails to bring new families into Everlasting Church throughout the summer. So I said all that to say that once the coronavirus had pretty much cancelled and changed EVERYTHING about our church plans for the summer, we knew we had to do something with the blessing bags to reach out to new people in our community and try to form new relationships. 

     Isn't that just like God? He leads us down a certain path and lays an idea on our hearts, and that idea is to hand out bags of supplies that are increasingly harder and harder to find.  As we went out to one of the main intersections in our neighborhood the last Saturday in April we had 70 bags to hand out. We could not even get them out of the car quick enough! They were gone in a matter of seconds. Those 70 bags were hard to make too! I remember Jordan and I were up until 3 am the night before finishing them up, and we had just enough stuff. Then Jordan sets a goal for the month of May to do 1,000 bags total 😲😲😲😲😲😲. We could barely find enough stuff for our 70 bags, how are we really going to do 1,000 bags? That's when we turned to ALL Y'ALL! We started putting out updates, videos, announcements through Facebook live, emails, and any other method of communication we could think of with our pleas for help and let me tell you guys, the BODY OF CHRIST stepped up to the plate big time!! Within a week or so from the first video we put on social media boxes began to flood our apartment. I remember one of the first donations we got was a huge box of toilet paper from our friend Olivia's brother, who we have never even met! Forget about trying to buy a box of 96 rolls of toilet paper around here, no stores were letting that happen. You all sewed masks, sent masks, sent thousands of gloves, went out and found hand sanitizer, paid a ridiculous amount of money to ship boxes, and so much more. Many of you (with a handful of people we have never met in person) sent in cash donations. I cannot accurately convey what a blessing this has been to us over the last few months. What an encouragement it has been for my soul personally. To know that even though our mission teams were cancelled and our summer would look very different, we were not forgotten about. Our wonderful community and neighbors with so many needs were not forgotten about. We have been able to form countless new relationships with people in our community because of your generosity. Numerous families have come to our blessing bag distributions on Saturday and received the message of hope we have in Jesus. Many people have received prayer and are now calling Jordan and asking for more prayer and are aware they have someone to turn to for help with spiritual matters. This was made possible because of your giving. This is the Body of Christ.

      Not only have our friends and partner churches from around the United States stepped up to the plate, but I have got to brag on our people right here in the Bronx! Right as we were preparing the next step for our church to move into the local elementary school so that we could have more space and continue to grow, we were forced to take a different path. Having to switch to doing everything online and through the internet has not been all that fun. But you all have loved Jordan and I and our kids and have continued to support us. You embrace the vision of a church here in Pelham Parkway that is "a family forever, loving God and loving people", and you live it out! It is such a privilege and the biggest blessing of our time so far in New York City to see how our church members have jumped on board and supported this God-given idea to hand out thousands of "blessing bags". So many of you all at Everlasting Church have given money, donated time Saturday after Saturday whether it be in the sunshine or pouring down rain, purchased items week after week for our bags, helped us Thursday after Thursday as we put hundreds of bags together each week, prayed for people, and just made yourself available to join God in what He is doing. If you want to see all that our church has come together to do go find Everlasting Church on Facebook, like us, follow us, and you will see our videos and photos from Saturday after Saturday of our blessing bag outreach. We may be a small church, but we are a mighty church by the grace of God! Thank you guys for your faithfulness. This is the Body of Christ.

     I have just one final thought. If you are not a part of a local, Bible-believing church you are missing out. Please I beg you, find a church family. Give it a try. If you are here in the Bronx and are not a part of a church, we would love to have you at Everlasting Church. The church is not perfect. It wasn't meant to be. You might get your feelings hurt by someone in the church. You probably will not agree with all of the decisions that are made. The church is made up of sinners and people who screw up on a daily basis, and I am most definitely one of those sinners! Thank God it's not about us though. We are imperfect human beings but as we look to Jesus, the one and only spotless and perfect Lamb of God, we are better together. He is the one who gives us strength to walk through this life together. He is the one who gives us courage to forgive one another and do life together and keep pressing on as a church family. And let me tell you I have not ever regretted for one second being a part of the Body of Christ. My church family has had my back when times got tough. I could tell you story after story of when my family or I have gone through rough times and the church has stepped up and stepped in whether it be through meals, or prayers, or calls and texts, or Christmas lights (ask me and I'll tell you that story) or just being there to sit in the silence and times of grief. These last few months of the coronavirus pandemic have been no exception. We are exhausted. Since April we have been busier than we have ever been. Plus it is just draining - mentally, emotionally, physically - to be in ministry in the midst of a global pandemic, in the epicenter and borough that was hit the hardest. But what has continued to motivate us and spur us on is the encouragement and strength God gives us through our brothers and sisters in Christ. All the boxes we opened night after night gave us excitement and anticipation for that week of blessing bags we would get to hand out. Each of you that sent in a box flooded us with such sweet memories of the church families we have been blessed to be a part of over the years. Some of y'all from my high school and college days, who I have not seen in more than 15 years or so, wanted to be a part of helping with the blessing bags and I cannot tell you how special that was to me! Many of you sent in money, which we did not advertise on our live videos on Facebook. But please know it did not go unnoticed! God sees you and we see you and your sacrificial giving has been a part of bringing the hope and love of Jesus to our neighborhood. Our church family here in the Bronx has continued to call and text and check in on us and our kids. You have prayed for us, given food, gifts to my children, support to this vision that God has given us and just accepted us as your own. It's truly amazing what God can do through the Body of Christ - His church. Go back to my Facebook page and watch our live unboxing videos and you can see what only God can do through people who love Him and love His church and are united together for one common goal - to be the hands and feet of Jesus! So I know I've already said it but I'll continue to say THANK YOU church family near and far for helping us reach The Bronx with the love of Jesus. This is the Body of Christ.